About POLO for Learning

About the Collection

POLO for Learning is a growing collection of multimedia resources which enhance and support learning. These digital educational tools range in format from PDFs with embedded videos to voice-over Power Points, Camtasia screen captures, and flash videos. Learning Objects are created by Palm Beach State College faculty and staff specifically for their students. Each learning object has accompanying metadata which includes its tile, creator, a brief description, a learning outcome, the intended level of instruction, copyright permissions and technical information which assists in its use.

POLO‘s intention is not to compete with YouTube in scope or scale. Instead it is meant to be a collection of high quality educational resources, created by Palm Beach State College faculty, which meet the immediate and specific needs of our students. PBSC faculty create learning objects based on their subject expertise, knowledge of pedagogy, and perception of needs to implement true learning in their students.

About the Project

Palm Beach State College's digital library of learning objects was begun as an initiative on the Palm Beach Gardens campus. Provost Jean Wihbey recognized the impact on learning that multimedia, especially videos, have. She proposed that the college begin to collect, in an organized manner, virtual learning objects (VLOs). She reasoned that technology could be used to enhance and support instruction by allowing students to access VLOs to practice skills and reinforce or remediate difficult concepts previously taught. VLOs can introduce subject matter beforehand—allowing a professor to use class time more effectively to discuss and expand upon material. VLOs also aid adjunct professors in maintaining consistency with full time faculty by giving them access to the same quality resources. In fall 2011 an advisory committee was formed on the Palm Beach Gardens campus to explore the development of a digital repository of VLOs.

At the same time these discussions were taking place the library was working on a similar project—collecting student papers (Math Science Institute Student Research) and videos of presentations by guest scholars (Holocaust Remembrance Day), and archiving them in a digital repository. With adaptation of its existing infrastructure, and customization of a metadata profile unique to learning objects, a digital library for VLOs was soon created. POLO (Panther Online Learning Objects) was selected as its name. An implementation committee composed of faculty members was formed to guide the creation and recruitment of learning objects. It is now a college-wide project, with contributions from faculty and staff at all campuses.

Submissions

Contributions by faculty and staff are encouraged. For more information, please see FAQs for Contributors. To submit a learning object please follows the directions on thispage.

Technical Information

Learning objects are created with a variety of software and come in many file formats. Files may be displayed by several methods: POLO uses an embedded FLASH player (FlowPlayer) to play audio and video files which are H.264 encoded. (MP4, FLV, F4V, HTML5). Other video formats, like .mov or .wav are directed to the browser's default player, or prompt the user to select a program from the web. Some videos hosted on third party sites, like YouTube or Viimeo, depend on their embedded player. PowerPoints, Word and PDF documents may need an appropriate plugin to open those files. Mobile devices may also find it necessary to download an app for their specific device to play some file types.

POLO uses a hosted instance of ContentDM Digital Collection Management Software to upload, apply metadata, search, deliver and store files. This service is provided by OCLC, a worldwide library cooperative, and made available through the State Library and Archives of Florida; funded by the Library Services and Technology Act.

Conditions of Use

Palm Beach State College welcomes students, faculty and the community to view and use these resources, provided such use is limited to educational purposes and follows fair use guidelines. In most cases objects created by PBSC faculty and staff are owned and copyright-protected by their creator. Many creators have granted a Creative Commons license to share these resources in specific ways. Descriptive information, including a rights statement, is provided for each object in POLO. It is the responsibility of the users of these resources to satisfy copyright or use restrictions.

Digital Millennium Copyright ACT (DMCA)

Palm Beach State College mandates that all employees comply with U.S. federal copyright law. However issues of copyright infringement are not always clear cut; the TEACH Act and Fair Use Doctrine allow limited use of copyright protected material under certain conditions.

In the event that you are the owner of copyright protected material and you find it hosted on this website, please contact us so we may review your grievance. If there is due proof and basis for your complaint we will withdraw the material from our repository.

Jim Robinette serves as technical and content advisor for the creation of learning objects. He is also faculty liaison. Susan Setterlund configured the CMS software and web interface design for POLO. She creates the metadata and uploads objects to ContentDM. She also created and maintains the college’s POLO website.